Lewisham celebrates GCSE results success

Many Lewisham students are celebrating their GCSE results success, which has seen the borough build on its record breaking performance of last year when it became the most improved borough in London over the last three years.

Provisional figures show the percentage of Lewisham pupils achieving five or more high passes (A* to C grade) is now at 55%. This figure is likely to rise even further when final results are released later in the year.

Crofton School in Brockley has seen an impressive jump of 11%, taking their rate of pupils achieving at least five good GCSEs to 47%. This follows a recent Ofsted report which commended Crofton on its leadership and on its improvement in the quality of teaching.

Deptford Green School has seen the highest improvement in Lewisham this year with 69% of students achieving five or more good GCSEs, a rise of 16%.

Over the last four years Lewisham’s overall pass rate has risen by 16%. That equates to more than 350 additional pupils leaving school since 2003 with top class results.

Frankie Sulke, Executive Director for Children and Young People joined pupils at Bonus Pastor Catholic College in Downham as they celebrated their results success.

Frankie said: “This is another year of GCSE success in Lewisham, which reflects all the hard work from pupils and teachers in our schools. My congratulations go to all of them for this achievement. These young people have performed brilliantly and now have the qualifications they need to get on to the courses they aspire to.

“These results come after our great A level results last week where Lewisham students again beat the national average.”

Monica Duncan, Headteacher at Crofton School, said: “Crofton has received its best ever GCSE results. This is due to the hard work and commitment of all the students and staff.

“Crofton is one of the most improved schools in the borough. It is already an exciting time for the school as we are about to undergo a major school redevelopment as part of the capital investment in Lewisham’s schools. These results are the icing on the cake.”

Deptford Green School also saw a massive jump of 16% to 69%.

Headteacher Peter Campling said: “We are absolutely delighted with our results, and it reflects the hard work of students and staff.

“We are also excited about the future, as we believe we will do even better next year.”

Other good improvements were at Haberdashers' Aske's Knights Academy with an 8% rise, justifying the confidence parents are showing in this new school, Northbrook School whose results also rose by 8% and Sedgehill School – the largest school in the borough – whose results rose by 6%.

Bonus Pastor Catholic College saw 68% of pupils achieve five or more good GCSEs.

Principal Patricia Slonecki said: “I am very proud of our students’ results. It is the culmination of five years of hard work by the young people and, of course, their teachers.

“At Bonus Pastor we work with individuals and their families to give them the best possible chance and, most importantly, choice and control in their future lives.”

Over half the borough's schools have seen good improvements in their pass rate, with increases on last year by as much as 16%. Most other schools have maintained their performances of last year.

Table: Lewisham’s 2007 GCSE results – percentage of students achieving five or more good GCSEs at grades A*-C. All 2007 figures are provisional.